- Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.
In Mississippi
1. Hank Williams Jr. coming to Brandon Amphitheater
Brandon Amphitheater has announced that Hank Williams Jr. is coming to Mississippi in June.
Williams will be joined for the June 6 show by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Show time is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Brandon Amphitheater.
Other acts slated for the venue include Willie Nelson on April 10, Allison Krauss and Union Station on May 3, and Rod Stewart on August 5, among others this year.
2. Mississippi Historical Society announces annual award winners
The Mississippi Historical Society has presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Frank Figgers, a lifelong civil rights and community activist.
Figgers was active in the Civil Rights Movement while a student at Lanier High School and Tougaloo College. Later at Jackson State University, Figgers preserved stories of civil rights activism through oral histories, and he led the interpretation and preservation of M.W. Stringer Lodge, which housed the office of Medgar Evers. The lodge also was the site of numerous significant events during the movement, including the convention of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
In addition, Eve Wade, a history teacher in Chicago, received the Journal of Mississippi History Article of the Year Award and the Teacher of the Year Award was presented to Carlous Smith of Florence Middle School. The Outstanding Local Historical Society Award was presented to the Pass Christian Historical Society.
The event marked the end of Rebecca Tuuri’s term as president of the society. Members welcomed the new president, Roscoe Barnes III, cultural heritage tourism manager at Visit Natchez (shown above).
National News & Foreign Policy
1. House passes CR, Senate up next
In large part due to President Donald Trump’s backing, the U.S. House narrowly passed a continuing resolution Tuesday to keep the federal government open. One Democrat and one Republican crossed party lines in the vote.
Now, at least some Senate Democrats appear to be ready to move the measure forward.
“Senate Democrats say the six-month government funding resolution that passed the House Tuesday is a ‘horrible’ bill, but there’s growing sentiment within the Senate Democratic conference that it would be too risky to block the legislation and risk a government shutdown that could drag on for weeks,” The Hill reported. “Senate Democrats battled behind closed doors Tuesday over how to handle the House bill, with a number of Democrats — especially those in swing states — arguing that a government shutdown must be avoided, even if it means reluctantly voting for a House GOP-drafted bill.”
With Republicans holding 53 seats in the Senate and Senator Rand Paul (R) opposing the measure, 8 Democrats are needed to cross the necessary 60-vote threshold for the legislation’s passage.
2. U.S. Dept. of Education to cut more than 1,300 positions
It was made public Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Education will begin cutting more than 1,300 people from its workforce and terminating some of its office leases across the country this week, as reported by Politico.
“An agency official told reporters Tuesday that the job cuts being finalized over the coming weeks are expected to affect roughly half of the agency’s workforce,” Politico reported. “The official said the department, which employs about 4,130 people, focused on cutting teams whose operations are redundant or not necessary to serve its core functions. But they also cast the announcement as another step in remaking the agency ahead of the president’s still-unreleased executive order to dismantle it.”
Politico noted, “The agency said the cuts would not affect the work of its Federal Student Aid office and civil rights investigators, or how the department distributes federal funding for low-income and disabled students.”
3. Ukraine agrees to cease-fire, await Russia’s response
As reported by the New York Times, “Ukraine said it would support a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day cease-fire with Russia, an announcement that followed hours of meetings on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, where the United States agreed to immediately lift a pause on intelligence sharing with Kyiv and resume military assistance.”
“In the statement, the United States and Ukraine acknowledged that the terms of any cease-fire would be subject to Russia’s approval. There was no immediate comment on the cease-fire discussion from Moscow, which had no officials at the talks,” NYT reported.
Sports
1. Hubbard wins Howell, earns All-SEC 2nd Team honors
Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard was named the state’s top college player on Monday by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Hubbard’s win of the Howell Trophy marks the second consecutive year he’s won the honor.
Hubbard is the third Bulldog to be a two-time recipient of the honor joining program greats Jarvis Varnado (2008-09, 2009-10) and Quinndary Weatherspoon (2017-18, 2018-19). A Bulldog has won the award 7 of the last 8 seasons.
Then on Tuesday, Hubbard was named to the AP All-SEC 2nd Team.
2. Ole Miss football announces “Meet the Rebels Day”
For the first time since 2019, Ole Miss Athletics says the football program will welcome fans to the Manning Center to secure autographs from football players with the return of “Meet the Rebels Day” on Saturday, April 12.
The event will be the highlight of Ole Miss’ spring practices, as the team will not conduct a spring game this year.
“In keeping with our program’s pro mindset, we are taking a business-like approach with our spring drills with the focus of improving as a team,” said Rebel head coach Lane Kiffin in a statement. “After careful thought including the timing of other spring events, we determined it was best not to hold a spring game. We look forward to hosting a fan day for the Ole Miss family to engage with our players on a personal level.”
Admission will be free for Meet the Rebels Day, which is tentatively set to begin at 1 p.m., just hours before the Ole Miss baseball team hosts Tennessee in game two of the series between two of the last three national champions.
In addition to player autographs, fans will hear from Kiffin and other Ole Miss coaches during a Q&A program.
3. Mid-week Big 3 baseball roundup
Southern Miss and Mississippi State earned wins on Tuesday while Ole Miss got battered in Mobile.
- No. 13 Ole Miss took its second loss Tuesday at South Alabama as the homestanding Jags took it to the Rebels 14-5. Ole Miss now turns its attention to SEC play as they are set to host No. 3 Arkansas this weekend.
- No. 22 Southern Miss moved to 12-5 on the year with a 3-1 win over UTRGV at home. Southern Miss returns to action Friday when they open Sun Belt Conference play against Old Dominion.
- Mississippi State traveled to Biloxi to play at the home of the Shuckers Tuesday in the Hancock Whitney Classic. The Bulldogs downed Old Dominion 9-4 and will now play Nicholls in Biloxi on Wednesday, with first pitch set for 5 p.m. State will then head to No. 11 Texas to open SEC play on Friday.
Markets & Business
1. Stock futures higher as new inflation data expected Wednesday
CNBC reports that stock futures ticked higher Wednesday “as investors awaited new U.S. inflation data, while President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the U.S. took effect.”
“Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 223 points, or 0.5%. S&P 500 futures were 0.8% higher, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained around 0.9%,” CNBC reported.
CNBC went on to add, “The consumer price index reading for February is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the CPI rose 0.3% last month and they anticipate headline inflation grew 2.9% from 12 months earlier.”
Magnolia Tribune
